3 Social Networking Services You Need To Watch
While its hard to find anyone these days that does not at least have some presence on Myspace or Facebook, (even if they claim not to) there are several social networking sites that may not be in the top 3 list, but are packed with features and extras that are sure to spur their growth in the next year or so. Below are three that are particularly of note.
Bebo.com
Bebo, a subsidiary of AOL, was awarded the “TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award” in 2009. Already extremely popular in the United Kingdom, Bebo is quickly gaining popularity in the United States. Much like Myspace, Bebo offers users downloadable skins to customize their profiles, and offers drag and drop options for customizing the layout of particular modules within your profile, something that Myspace does not offer. Because the skins are available only via the Bebo community, there is no risk of exploits and viruses which commonly plague Myspace users. If Bebo maintains its momentum, it will definitely be a site to watch for the next few years.
Tumblr.com
Tumblr is a blend of several popular ideas into one convenient package, which expands on the micro-blog concepts such as Twitter while adding some of the richer formatting and multi-media posting features of more robust blogging services such as Vox or Blogger. If you enjoy the immediate gratification associated with twittering, but want a more robust set of formatting options, or multimedia content, Tumbler may be the choice for you.
Mixx.com
Like Digg.com, Mixx is a social book marking site whose aim is to help its users sort through the massive amounts of internet garbage in search of those elusive “pearls” that are the truly informative, interesting and unique posts. Unlike Digg, there is no vindictive banning, which punishes users for posting unpopular (even if relevant) posts. Unlike Digg, neither positive nor negative ratings of your posts can be done anonymously which forces users to be a lot more genuine (at least reserved) in their feedback. Mixx also offers an easy to use toolbar add on, much like Stumbleupon that makes adding posts much faster than Digg. If you are looking for a friendly social book marking service that is extremely easy to use, Mixx definitely fits the bill.
With social bookmarking growing steadily in popularity, users are constantly looking for the latest and greatest services. Where the masses will end up next is yet to be determined, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of the top three fall to up and coming contenders who are all scrambling to capitalize on the weaknesses of their predecessors.
Only time will tell if they will be successful.
